(Note - some of the content in the text version of this sermon is not found in the audio recording, as that content was shared separately in our worship service on 3-3-19. )
3-3-19 "We Are Not THAT Church!" - A Response to General Conference 2019
This story is told in the three synoptics gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke - nearly word for word, but not in exactly the same way. As I read and contemplated this passage in a lectio divina kind of way, there were some phrases and images that stood out for me. The first was the phrase “a very high mountain.” In several places in the Gospels we read that Jesus “went up a mountain,” but in Mathew the point is made that this is a “very high mountain.” So, this is not your run-of-the-mill mountain - this mountain is special. It’s very high. Mountains were thought to be, by the various religions commonly found in the middle east at this time, the homes of the gods - plural. So, the idea that this mountain was a very high mountain would have made it home to a very great god. I Googled, as I do, mountains in Israel, and found that the highest mountain in modern Israel’s controlled territories is Mt. Hermon, which is technically in southwestern Syria but descends into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Mt. Hermon peaks at a bit over 7,000 ft above sea level.
Within the boundaries of Israel, the highest peaks,
and there are a few, are in the 3,000-4,000 ft elevation levels. Now that’s tall, but that’s not Rocky Mountain tall. Mt. Ranier, in Washington state comes in at a stately 14,410 feet tall, and Mt. Everest, arguably the highest mountain in the world tops out at 29,035 feet.
But in learning this, I also found that mountain elevation measurements are subject to variables. Mt. Everest is the highest mountain, but is not the tallest.
For example, if the measurement is taken as an elevation above sea level, then Mt. Everest is the highest. The height of a mountain is taken from sea level.
But if the measurement is taken from the base of the mountain to the peak, regardless of sea level, then we’re talking about the tallest mountain, and that honor belongs to Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii. Measured from it’s base under the Pacific Ocean, it extends 33,465 feet. So, if they were standing side by side, Mauna Kea would be 4,436 feet taller.
But wait, there’s more in this theological geology lesson. The other way that mountains are measured is the distance from the mountain’s peak to the center of the earth - all the way to the core. And that matters because, while the earth looks like a perfectly round ball or sphere, it isn’t. The planet flattens out at the poles and bulges near the equator. So with that in mind, when measured from the center of the earth, Mount Chimborazo, a volcano in Ecuador, almost directly on the equator, actually extends two miles farther from the center of the earth than does Everest, even as Everest is over 8,500 feet higher when measured from sea level.
And all of this just goes to show that truth depends on your perspective, and there are different ways to look at things. However you look at it, though, those are some very high mountains.
But as the saying goes, “It’s not the size of the mountain that counts…it’s what happens on the mountain.” That’s a saying, right? All of the scripture passages telling this story agree that up on this very high mountain, Jesus was transformed. He was transfigured, his appearance changed, at least for a moment. How long? We don’t know - it doesn’t say. Whether it was seconds, minutes, or hours we don’t know, but we do know it was long enough for the three disciples to take notice, and at least according to Mark’s gospel, for them to become frightened. Matthew and Luke don’t record the disciples’ fear, but Mark does. And they all say that this transformation took place in such a way that Jesus’ face “shone like the sun,” and his clothing became “bright white.”
Now, the passage doesn’t say what caused this shining, this brightness, this light that was emanating from Jesus, but I suspect, being on this very high mountain and knowing that, at least according to the Exodus narrative, God liked mountains, that Jesus was experiencing and reflecting the Glory of God. Remember, back in our Advent series about Silent Night, we talked about “Glories streaming from heaven afar” and made note that that passage was indicating a shining light? I think that’s what Jesus is experiencing here, what the three disciples are witnessing here - the Glory of God reflected in and emanating from Jesus!
And the passage tells us that in this light, in this brightness, in this illumination, the disciples could see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah - symbolic, representatives of the Law and the Prophets, right? In this light, they can see this. They didn’t see it before Jesus was transformed - Jesus didn’t tell them on the way up the mountain that they were going to meet somebody or see something special - it happens in the brightness of the light that emanates from Jesus. And Peter responds to this vision that they share by proclaiming, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here!”
Say that with me, will you?
“Lord, it’s good that we’re here!”
I’ve shared with you before that at night, when I’m ready to sleep, I like it to be completely dark - totally black or as close to that as I can get. Well, at the other end of that spectrum, when I want to read I wants lots of light. Lynn can read in less than ordinary light levels, but not me. I recently replaced the 3-way bulb in the lamp next to my favorite reading spot, from a 50-100-150 watt bulb, to a 150-300-350 watt bulb! And wow! Can I see to read now! In fact, I feel like I ought to turn every 15-20 minutes in order to avoid sunburn from this reading lamp. I like the bright light because it makes it easier to see the words on the page, it makes the colors in pictures pop more, it makes it easier to find things I drop on the floor. The brighter light just makes it easier to see what I otherwise might miss. The heavenly light shining on this mountain enables the disciples to see, not only the presence of Moses and Elijah, but it also allows them to see Jesus in a whole new way. It’s no wonder Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here!”
And it’s as Peter is making this confession, that Matthew tells us that a “bright cloud overshadowed them.” Now, the other gospel writers just call it a cloud, Matthew alone describes it as a “bright” cloud. And truly, what other kind of cloud would we expect God to be in, certainly not a dark cloud. And a voice comes from within this cloud that surrounds and envelopes them says, “This is my son, whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” And if those words sound familiar to you, it’s because God spoke nearly the same words at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he was baptized, rose up out of the water as the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove, and a voice was heard from above saying, “This is my son whom I dearly love; I find happiness with him.” And upon hearing this admonition from God for the three disciples to listen to Jesus, it says they fell on their faces to the ground in awe. The God who sent angels to announce the coming birth of the Son - saying to Mary and Joseph, to Zechariah, and to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid” - the God who was present at Jesus’ baptism and claimed him as God’s own, now returns in a bright cloud and reaffirms him. In front of his three most trusted disciples and again, God confirms Jesus’ worth and worthiness as a child of God and tells these most dedicated of followers to “Listen to him!”
“Lord, it’s good that we’re here!”
And it is then that Jesus reaches out and touches them, his appearance having returned to normal, and he says to them, “Get up,” and “Do not be afraid.”
So my personal reflection on this scripture, my own personal lectio divina approach to this scripture lifted up these things, these images and ideas to me:
- it was a very high mountain
- transformation took place
- Jesus shone like the sun
- Peter’s proclamation, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here”
- a “bright” cloud overshadowed them
- and Jesus told them to “Get up,” and “do not be afraid.”
And as I thought about these things, in the afterglow, if you want to call it that, of our United Methodist General Conference this week, there were some other thoughts that came to me, many of which were not fit for a sermon, but many that were. I didn’t attend conference in person, as April did, I watched a good deal of the live stream and followed along on some social media sites that tried to help explain what was going on and described some of the things that were happening in the arena that were not seen on camera. And what we witnessed was, to say the least, not what I would call an enlightened or transformative mountain top experience.
Now, for those of you who don’t know, who haven’t been United Methodist for very long, or who just don’t get the politics or structure of the church, here’s a quick primer. The General Conference is the main body of the United Methodist Church. The UMC has no president or executive that oversees or runs the church. While we have Bishops - the Episcopacy - who oversee geographic areas called Annual Conferences or Central Conferences and head our various agencies - they do not make church law or church policy, that is done by the General Conference which meets every four years. The General Conference that was held in St. Louis this last week was a special general conference, called specifically to deal with the single issue of human sexuality as it pertains to life in the United Methodist Church. It is this body of delegates, elected from the various annual conferences and central conferences around the world, who gather to write church law and polity - what we call our Book of Discipline.
Now, lest you think that the “UNITED” in United Methodist Church means that we are of one mind on everything, or anything for that matter, you should know that “United” is part of our name as a result of the merger, in 1968, of the two separate denominations that formed the UMC, the then Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren, or EUB church. But what’s in a name, right? Human sexuality has been a divisive issue in the United Methodist Church ever since 1972, four years after the church was formed, when language was inserted into the Book of Discipline by conservative delegates, stating that “Homosexuality is not compatible with Christian teaching.”
And every year in Annual Conferences around the country, and every four years in General Conferences, the conservative delegates and the progressive delegates have fought over this language and its ramifications for life in the individual churches and for our clergy. And as we have struggled, the divide between the two sides has only grown deeper and wider. By the 2016 General Conference in Portland, OR, the chasm had grown so deep and so wide, that it threatened the survival of the entire denomination. So, in order to avoid a schism, the 2016 General Conference asked the Council of Bishops, who have no power to make church law and who do not even have a vote in General Conference, to step in and help us find a way forward as a church. And so they did.
They formed what became known as the Commission on the Way Forward, made up of conservatives and liberals, men and women, gays and straights, clergy and laity, black, white and brown, from around the world, to come up with a plan to present to a specially called General Conference in 2019 - one year before the next regularly scheduled General Conference in 2020.
That is what took place this past week.
The Commission on the Way Forward took two years to listen, to learn, and to explore how we can move forward as a denomination with very diverse and disparate viewpoints on the subject of human sexuality in general, and the role of LGBTQ folks in ministry and the life of the church in particular. The Commission on the Way Forward brought plans to the Council of Bishops for review, and as is our polity, other groups were allowed to put forward plans to General Conference as well.
The most progressive of the plans considered, what was called the Simple Plan, simply removed all of the language about homosexuality that had been inserted over the years since 1972. Another plan, the Connectional Conference Plan, would have kept the church together as a loose confederation of connected churches and conferences who believed different things and that would have required churches, clergy, annual conferences, and other groups to vote as to how they wanted to be connected. The most conservative plan, called the Traditional Plan, actually went the other way and doubled down on penalties for churches and clergy who allowed same-sex marriages, who performed same sex marriages, who were in fact LGBTQ, or who would not sign what amounted to “loyalty oaths.”
The plan that the Council of Bishops ultimately endorsed was called the “One Church Plan,” named as such because it allowed churches, clergy, and annual conferences to decide for themselves how they wanted to deal with issues of same sex marriage etc., while not forcing any one way of thinking or acting on anyone and maintaining our current connectional structure that makes us uniquely, the United Methodist Church. It allowed us to stay connected as one church, while recognizing and honoring the cultural differences that exist between not only countries, but also within regions, areas, states, and even within annual conferences and districts.
And while the Commission on the Way Forward was doing its work in good faith, the Wesley Covenant Association, a group of ultra conservative UMC churches supporting the Traditional Plan,
was working behind the scenes to prepare to leave the denomination if they didn’t get their way on this vote at General Conference. And perhaps, even if they did.
In the end, as you have no doubt heard or read in the news, it was the conservative Traditional Plan, that was passed by the General Conference, of which 43% of the delegates come from Africa, the Philippines, and other conservative countries where homosexuality is often illegal and punishable by death. The final votes was approximately 53% in favor and 47% against.
Even with those results, however, news of the death of the United Methodist Church is, I believe, premature. Why do I say that? Well for a couple of reasons:
First - much of the Traditional Plan, as it passed, had already been ruled as unconstitutional by the standards of our own United Methodist Constitution by our Judicial Council, the denomination’s equivalent of the Supreme Court. While some unconstitutional parts of the plan were amended during General Conference after that ruling was received, the vast majority of it was not changed. The Judicial Council will meet in April and will review everything that was passed by General Conference, and anything that they deem to be unconstitutional will simply be cast aside and not become church law. We’ll know more of what that will look like in April, but the expectation among many is that much of what is contained in the Traditional Plan as it passed will not, in the end, become church law, at least night right now.
Second - One of the pieces of legislation that did pass the conference was an exit plan for churches that desire to leave the denomination. As our Book of Discipline currently stands, if a church decides to leave the UMC, they’re free to go but they cannot take their building and property - those are owned in trust with the annual conferences. The exit plan that was passed would provide for a temporary lifting of this “trust clause” so that churches that no longer desired to be part of the denomination could leave and take their buildings, on the condition of payment of a certain amount of reparations, past due apportionments, and things like that. It is believed that that is really what the Wesley Covenant Association was after - a way to leave, either soon or after the 2020 General Conference - rather than a way to stay together as one church. We’ll see how that plays out, likely beginning after the rulings by the Judicial Council.
So, while some things have changed, and the UMC is currently a top story in the news cycle, the story isn’t over yet. What hasn’t changed is OUR call as Crossroads United Methodist, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, by feeding ALL God’s children - body, mind, and soul. That is who WE are as the United Methodist Church. We are not THAT United Methodist Church, which seeks to judge others, as though our poo doesn’t stink. We are not the church that climbs a very high mountain, supposedly to draw closer to God, only to cast stones on those we perceive to be beneath us. We are a church who loves God, who loves one another, who loves our neighbors - ALL of our neighbors - because we know that ALL are beloved children of God.
“Lord, it’s good that we’re HERE!” Amen?
We are NOT the church that seeks transformation in everyone else, seeing the speck in their eye, while blindly ignoring the log of self-denial planted firmly in our own! No, this is the church that loves its neighbors, that feeds its neighbors, that welcomes its neighbors - ALL of its neighbors, because that’s the only kind of church that reflects the body of the transformed Christ, the resurrected Christ, the living Christ!
“Lord, it’s good that we’re HERE!”
No, it is NOT our call, our mission, our vision, to allow ourselves to be overshadowed by the dark cloud of hate, judgment, and fear that settled over St. Louis this past week. The God we worship comes as a bright cloud, a light in the darkness that emanates from the face of Jesus and lights the path of love for all Christ’s followers.
That’s who WE are!
“Lord, it’s good that we’re HERE!”
And when we hear the stories that will be reported in the coming month, when inevitably change occurs - all things change; this isn’t the first time for our denomination and it won’t be the last - remember the words of Jesus to his disciples in the aftermath of this mountain top experience of transformation - “Get up! Do not be afraid!”
We must get up, we cannot allow ourselves to be knocked down by the forces of evil and fear who deny God’s children’s right to exist, while grasping for power, money, and property for themselves, all the while claiming to embrace a “biblical Christianity” that they seek to hold others to but not themselves.
Get up! Do NOT be afraid! The Christian Bible I read, the words of Christ I see, says to “judge not, lest YE be judged!” It says, “let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.” It says “love your neighbor as yourself.”
It says “God is love, and those who do not love do not know God.”
So, while the denominational powers that be work out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and who is the better Christian, and who gets custody of what in the divorce that is surely coming, and while the WCA plots to pack up and leave town in the middle of the night, more closely modeling former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell than Jesus Christ, let us remember that OUR call as beloved children of God in THIS place is simply this:
to love ALL our neighbors, to feed our hungry neighbors, to clothe our naked neighbors, to visit our sick and imprisoned neighbors, and to follow Jesus Christ where he leads us - to the margins and to the marginalized.
And finally, know this - a General Conference can legislate many things, but regardless of how they read scripture, regardless of where they call home, regardless of how many votes they cast, they cannot legislate against God’s love for all God’s children!
“Lord, it’s good that we are HERE!” Amen? Amen.
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